Highlighting the underlying truth behind the legendary show Kimba The White Lion: That each and every living being is a thinking, feeling, loving creature.This blog is an essential part of the web site www.Kimba.US / www.KimbaWLion.com. For news relating to any of the Kimba The White Lion shows, click here.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

I'm almost embarrassed to write a post on this subject. I mean, it seems ridiculous to me to even ask the question, "are animals self-aware?" But the question does not go away. Some people cling desperately to the notion that animals blunder through life with no real consciousness.

Some will go so far as to question whether humans have consciousness. Not current humans of course, but Julian Jaynes made a big splash with his book, "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind". Basically, he says that ancient people (up to only about 3000 years ago) could not think as we do today and were therefore not conscious. Some sort of catastrophe is supposed to have forced mankind to learn consciousness, so therefore consciousness itself is a product of human history and culture, and only originates from the human brain's left side. He says that prior to this breakthrough, humans lived in a hallucinatory state.

And this book is taken seriously. Is it any wonder that the question of animal consciousness persists?

I ask one simple question: If animals are not self-aware, why does a predator hide from, and stalk, his prey?

And the scientific community is not ruled by Jaynesian thought. In the March 2008 issue of National Geographic Magazine, Virginia Morell wrote this on the subject of animals imitating others:

Although imitation was once regarded as a simple-minded skill, in recent years cognitive scientists have revealed that it's extremely difficult, requiring the imitator to form a mental image of the other person's body and pose, then adjust his own body parts into the same position -- actions that imply an awareness of one's self.

I marvel at the certainty with which you make these statements, especially since it is logically impossible to prove the non-existence of anything (in this case, awareness in animals).

I take it, then, that you are unmoved by the display of emotions by Christian the lion (to cite the most popular current example).

You did not directly address the idea that imitation, which animals certainly do, requires self-awareness and a sense of being, so I would be interested in knowing how you explain the ability to imitate.

The timing of your comment is interesting, since I am preparing to write an article on animals' imaginations. It would appear that your viewpoint does not allow this, either.

I suspect that I would have a lot to say about "the being before thinking" but I want to be sure I understand the concept. I cannot find a reference to it; can you provide one?

You can search the internetYou can use your video phoneTo call another friend.If we gave you all the toolsYou can do whatever you wantWho knows when this will end.

Intelligent life is all around us

Hey, bonobo womanHey, bonobo manLook in your eyesThat's where we come from

Hey, bonobo womanHey, bonobo manTalk to us nowWe are listening

Starting to hear the things you've saidGetting to know what's going on in your headThere's no humans on the lineBut there'll be plenty more there in good time.Dolphins, cats, and elephantsThis is not some wild romanceJust look in their eyes and say it's not trueLook in their eyes, they're checking out you.

Communication with the Animal NationWe are in communication with the Animal NationWe are in communication with the Animal Nation